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The computer game architect

By Arianna Reiche

Keith Archer is vice-president of infrastructure and operations at video game publisher Activision Blizzard, based in Santa Monica, California. The company owns 14 games studios and its biggest hits include the Call of Duty franchise, and Skylanders&colon; Spyro’s Adventure, the bestselling video-game of 2012 so far

What does your role at Activision involve?

I run all the global infrastructure and operations. This means my team manages all the applications that run the business. This includes the network, the operating systems, the data storage, all hardware, everything on top of someone’s desk – the phone, the PC, the laptop, the monitor, as well as all server connectivity and data centres.

Do different games need different technology?

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It depends on the console, the genre, and what the developers are trying to do. All the studios use the same “dev kits” to help code and test the game, whether it be an Xbox, Wii or Playstation 3 title. Studios also use similar 3D design software such as Autodesk or Maya so there are some consistent platforms that they use. It’s really about how the developers use those tools that makes their games unique.

What does a typical day look like?

On a day-to-day basis, I work on our ongoing projects, carry out risk assessments and liaise with vendors. I’m on the corporate side of things so there are lots of meetings. Of course, we also deal with the operational side – the “we’re having issues, please resolve it” type of challenges. This is what most people will have some experience of but the reality is that IT support is a sideline to what we do first and foremost – providing technological improvements and looking at what’s next in terms of technology for the organisation.

What sort of new technologies is Activision looking into?

We’re looking at moving some of our platforms into the cloud. By moving towards cloud solutions, I am essentially extending my team into someone else’s organisation. We may know how to do these tasks but we don’t gain anything by hosting them ourselves. By contracting them out to other people we have more time to focus on our business, plus it helps to reduce our carbon footprint.

There has also been a shift in terms of personal technology&colon; making our titles tablet or smartphone friendly, and there have been attempts to compete with your Angry Birds or with Facebook apps. Games like Call of Duty or Elite are an attempt to bring the gamer into a social arena that they enjoy with other people, and provide some value through that.

What advice would you give to graduates or career-changers looking to move into computing or IT?

You need to be very flexible and able to adapt to change quickly. You need to embrace change, really. Keep up with trends in the market. Everything moves very fast but there are always broader influences driving that speed.

Specialise in a certain area and don’t try to do it all. Get some experience&colon; you can get demo versions of almost anything. Get familiar with a tool and concentrate your attention on that area. Any one area that you focus on has its own world of opportunity.